Movies: Past, present and future

Golden Globes: Producer Graham King hits a triple

December 15, 2011 | 11:25am

Producer Graham King has won an Oscar ("The Departed"), worked on any number of critical and commercial hits ("The Town," "Traffic," "Rango") and supports one of the better soccer teams in Barclays Premiere League (Chelsea). But the feat he pulled off in Thursday's Golden Globe nominations bears special mention, because King's productions were nominated in three top categories: drama, animated movie and foreign language film.

"It was quite a morning," King said. "It was surprising to have all three — three filmmakers doing three totally different genres. I'm not sure when it's been done before."

King financed "Hugo," which not only was nominated for dramatic motion picture but also for director (Martin Scorsese) and score (Howard Shore). King produced "Rango," nominated as best animated film, and co-financed "In the Land of Blood and Honey," a foreign-language movie directed and written by first-time filmmaker Angelina Jolie.

"It's so wonderful for Angie to get this recognition," King said of Jolie, whose 2010 movie "The Tourist" was produced by King. "It's the first time she's directed anything."

While "Hugo" is doing steady business at the box office and "Rango" was a solid hit with global receipts of more than $245 million, "In the Land of Blood and Honey" does not arrive theaters until Dec. 23. But the film, shot largely in Hungary and set in the Bosnian war, did not qualify for Academy Award foreign-language film consideration.

"This was a true collaboration and I am forever indebted to our cast and crew, who experienced their own personal tragedies in the Bosnian War and gave me an authentic perspective into the conflict," Jolie said in a statement.

Photo: Producer Graham King, left, Brad Pitt and producer Tim Headington arrive at the premiere of "In the Land of Blood and Honey" held at ArcLight Cinemas on Dec. 8 in Hollywood. Credit: Kevin Winter/Getty Images.